And So, I Watched

In the beginning, there was only I; wandering about the vast void, utterly alone. At the time, however, I did not understand the concept of the word “Alone.” After all, how can one be truly alone if there never was anyone other than yourself? For as long as I could remember, there was only ever me. Well, there was also the mass emptiness around me. Nothingness as far as the eye could see.

Well, I hadn't quite taken shape yet and didn't technically have eyes. You're an intelligent creature, though, so you understand my meaning. Now then, back to the void. I could never really tell the difference between myself and it. Did I truly wander about it? Or was the empty void just myself? But, I digress; after all, I'm not here to debate philosophy with you. I'm here to tell you my story.

For eons (which didn't exist at the time because time hadn't even begun) I walked the emptiness (which may or may not have been myself). I wanted for not for there was nothing to want, I thought of nothing because there was nothing to think and I felt nothing but emptiness for there was only the emptiness to feel. Then, as I wandered, a voice rang out within the void. Looking back on it now, it must have been me, for there was only ever I.

"What if..." Pondered the voice, "What if there were more than just I?" Suddenly, an intense feeling washed over me and I was in awe of this emotion welling up inside of myself. As the voice continued in its pondering.

"What if there were light?" And with that there came a glorious burst of pure celestial intent and it was seemingly coming from both myself and the nothingness around me. Stars began to form out of this celestial energy and it didn’t take long for the planets to form as well; although, for you it would have felt like an eternity. I watched, amazed with myself and what I had done. The beauty of it all was a truly a sight to behold. Soon, out of the stars and planets, solar systems began to take shape and with those came wondrous galaxies.

I watched the universe taking shape around me and for a very long time, I felt content with myself and the space I had created. After all, it was truly a sight to behold. Light where there had not been, planets where there was nothing before. However, one can only remain content for so long. I remember the moment quite clearly. I was inspecting this ball of ice and stone orbiting this tiny little sun.

This planet was completely alone other than the star it was orbiting. A thought crossed my mind as I watched the planet's rotation. This tiny ball of ice has a sun to keep it company and I have no-one but myself. I found myself to be lonely, which was strange because it made me feel as if I were back within the emptiness of the void. I could feel it in what would one day be my chest. A sinking, empty feeling that seemed to plant seeds within me.

"I don't want to be alone anymore," I heard the voice ring out. It wasn't long before I noticed changes on some of the planets. Microscopic creatures swimming about in primordial ooze. “That's gross,” I thought to myself. Soon however, the ooze began to clear and it became what you know now as water. With the water came plants; some bore colorful fruit, others grew flowers and some grew these strange spikey cone things.

After a very long time, the microscopic creatures grew to varying different sizes and became various species, all of which began in the oceans. Over time, the oceans changed and so did the land. Periods of hot and cold temperatures caused the landscapes to change, which in turn caused the aquatic creatures to adapt and evolve. I watched in awe as the first fish pulled itself out of the water and across a small patch of land that had divided the fish from its spawning grounds.

Slowly, one after the other, each fish from this species pulled itself up out of the water and across the land. It was the most amazing and surreal thing I'd ever witnessed. From that moment on, I took interest in creatures like that. They weren't like the other creatures, I knew this right away. For some reason, unbeknownst even to myself, these creatures were special and meant to be cherished.

From these fish all other creatures formed, bringing with them their own special adaptations and abilities. There were creatures that were covered in hair and there were creatures that were covered in scales; some creatures were quite large and others were unbelievably small. I enjoyed watching these creatures, for as simple as they were they were also beautiful and unique. Every single one of them had their own personality and their own way of viewing the world around them.

One special species began to walk upright and began to build things such as tools or weapons, which they used to make their lives easier. They hunted for food and huddled around a fire at night to keep warm. They began to develop spoken languages as well as written. They made great works of art, wrote unique poetry and stories. Soon, they covered the entire planet and out of all the rest of the universe their planet was my favorite.

The humans, as I had begun to call them, grew and evolved over the course of many years and I had grown quite fond of watching them. I watched them love, create, fight, live and die. Every time one of them died however, a new one would be born which was just as equally beautiful and glorious as the one that had come before. I grew to love these creatures and all their faults. In my eyes, they were all equally amazing. And so, I watched.